American-style democracy and capitalism come to the sleepy village of Tobiki in this uplifting comedy of cultural conflict set on Okinawa at the end of World War II.The hapless Captain Fisby, with the help of his local interpreter, Sakini, is implementing the U.S. Army’s Plan B, which includes establishing a Women’s League for Democratic Action and building a pentagon-shaped schoolhouse where the children will learn English.When Fisby mistakenly accepts a gift of souvenirs ...

Vern Sneider’s A Pail of Oysters is the most important English-language novel ever written about Taiwan. Yet despite critical acclaim, this exciting and controversial book has long been unavailable to readers. Unlike Sneider’s previous novel, the humorous bestseller The Teahouse of the August Moon, this 1953 publication has a dark, menacing tone. Set against the political repression and poverty of the White Terror era, A Pail of Oysters tells the moving story of ...